Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, just in looking back over what we covered this past, or not the past week, but the last sermon that I gave on this subject was talking primarily about how Satan's broadcasting can influence the spirit in man and begin to make us think, believe, and act in ways that are incorrect, can begin to place within us certain wrong thoughts, concepts, ideas, moods that are very, very destructive. And we began to talk about some of those and use at least a few examples of how those wrong thoughts can begin to influence us, that those wrong thoughts which are themselves sin produce wrong actions.

   Now, in this world, people tend to feel that as long as you're not committing the wrong action, you're OK. But God says to do the thing in your heart, in your mind, as He says, to look upon a woman with lust is to go ahead and commit the sin as far as God is concerned. There is the same penalty. It is just as much a sin to lust or whatever it may be that we could use as an example in God's sight. It is still the sin because the physical manifestation is only something which occurs when the mind itself has harbored sin. So that only produces the sin, in the mind produces the wrong action, but it's what occurs in the mind that we must be most concerned about. And therefore it is what occurs in the mind that Satan wants most to influence. It's not necessary to get you to physically go out and commit sin. All that's necessary is to get you to harbor it in your mind, and Satan has accomplished all that he needs to accomplish.

   Now I didn't have time to really go over everything about those wrong thoughts and the way Satan can begin to influence us, but I want to tie in a couple of other examples to show you how even today Satan still uses the same methodology in order to try to reach us and to change us.

   Now just to give you a couple of quick examples. Several years ago, when the church was going through a traumatic period, and I think those of us who've been around a while recognized that there was a serious trauma for a period of time, when the church was going through that period of trauma, Mr. Armstrong was very concerned that at times it seemed there were at least certain who were in the office of ministry who were not teaching the people the correct things but instead were teaching some of their own ideas and the approaches that they had had themselves, and it wasn't what God had inspired through His apostle.

   Mr. Armstrong was very concerned about that, and yet he realized, well, uh, sometimes people can be in a bad attitude and misunderstand what a minister may say and kind of take something out of context. For those of you that have been around long enough to remember one man who used to pastor the Houston churches, Dr. Charles Dorothy. Dr. Dorothy had a particular method of speaking, and I always enjoyed Dr. Dorothy a great deal, but one of his methods of speaking was he liked to get up and say something that was totally shocking. And the whole audience would sit there and say, "Well, I never heard that in my life. How in the world does he get away with saying that?" And then he'd spend the rest of the sermon explaining what he meant. And if you listened all the way through, then OK, fine, you understood. If you didn't, then you could be all upset about what this minister came down and said.

   And sometimes Mr. Armstrong recognized, well, that kind of thing can happen. So he told people, look, if there's a problem concerning some particular doctrine or something that is, uh, not, you feel, the way that it should be being taught, uh, in that local area, then you may write directly to me. So you go ahead and write to me and those letters will come through and I will check the situation out.

   Now, when Mr. Armstrong said that, immediately there began to be a number of people, as I mentioned, who may in some cases did not have the greatest attitude, who thought, "Aha, now is my chance." For years, this local minister has been a thorn in my flesh, probably because he was trampling all over their toes. And therefore, now I'm gonna turn him in to Mr. Armstrong. And of course what they found out in the vast majority of cases was that, well, it wasn't the minister who was having the problem, it was the individual themselves who had the problem.

   But some seem to misunderstand what Mr. Armstrong was saying. He was not saying that any time something comes up in your mind that you don't particularly understand, that the very first thing you should do is write to the apostle. See, because that goes totally against all of the governmental structure that we have been taught. The ministry has been placed in the local churches in order to be able to handle certain things so that they don't have to go all the way to the apostle in order to be handled.

   So in other words, the system that was set up under Moses back in Exodus 18 — I'm not turning back to it, so I don't want to concentrate on that right now, but in that system, you remember Moses made all the judgments. And his father-in-law said, "Look, this isn't good. The people aren't getting the answers quickly enough. And what's more, you're wearing down. Why don't you appoint people to handle these matters? And if they can't handle it, then it's passed on up the line to the next level and so on. And only the most difficult matters which can't be handled on any other level come to Moses."

   Well, the same is true today. It's established in that same way that if something comes up, then the first logical place to go after being on your knees is to come to the local ministers and to ask, you know, "I, I looked at this in the Bible and I don't really understand it. Could you explain it for me?" And the local minister will then try to go ahead and explain it. Now, if it's not handled, if, if it isn't explained well enough that you can understand it on that kind of a level, well then what's the next logical thing to do? Well, you ought to be able to tell that minister. "Well, you know, I really appreciate it, but I still don't really quite understand it. I'd like to go ahead and write to headquarters about it." And in many cases, that's certainly just fine. But you should try to solve it on the lowest level.

   Now, where does Satan come into this? Where he comes in is that he wants the apostle to be so tied up, trying to handle all kinds of little things that could very easily be handled locally, so that he can't be involved in doing the work. Satan wants to tie him up in that way. So therefore he begins to twist, in, in people's minds what Mr. Armstrong said, to the point where they think, "Well, I don't ever have to go to the local minister. Why should I go to them? I can go straight to Mr. Armstrong anytime I have a question about any doctrine whatsoever." Which totally ignores the purpose of the local ministry. You know, you read Ephesians 4 and it tells you the ministers are there so that we all speak the same thing. We all have the same understanding of doctrine. Now sometimes people will come to me with a question that I don't know the answer for, and I will have to take it on to headquarters and ask on up the line. That does come up. But you see, Satan wants to tie up the apostle. So he takes those words which were said and are true — you do have access to Mr. Armstrong — takes those words which are true and then twists them to try to stop God's apostle from accomplishing the work.

   Now I'll give you another example, and this comes up frequently. It has to do with when a person occasionally has to be put out of God's church. A person may be disfellowshipped or they may be suspended. And we then ask the question in our minds, "What should be my action toward that person? How should I relate to them? How, you know, what should I do?"

   Well, the thought that comes up in most people's minds is, "Well, here is this poor person who is having a problem and they're cut off from the church. What I ought to do is call them and encourage them and let them know we're praying for them and do all of this type of thing." Well, that's fine, except for one thing. It doesn't take into account what God says you should do. It only takes into account our human reasoning influenced by these unseen forces outside.

   Now notice back here in Romans chapter 16 what Paul says about this. Now we can go through many scriptures about it, but I don't want to concentrate the whole sermon on it. I just want to show how Satan begins to twist things a bit. In Romans 16, he says in verse 17 (Romans 16:17), "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them."

   Now the same principle applies as we could show in I Corinthians 5 concerning an individual who has a problem that they haven't repented of. They may not be trying to go around and get someone else to be involved in it, but at the same time, the same principle applies that you put them away and avoid them.

   "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly," or their own desires, "and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." Now who are the simple? He says, "For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I'm glad therefore on your behalf, but I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."

   Who are the simple? We're supposed to be. We're supposed to be the ones simple concerning evil. And he says by fair words, you know, good words and fair speeches, they are able to deceive, beguile, lead astray those who are simple concerning evil. So God says, avoid them. Don't be around them, don't associate with them.

   "Oh, but they're my family, they're my friends." God says, avoid them, because you can be destroyed. Now you can reason humanly or you can say, "God says avoid them. Do I believe God? God says I should avoid them. And therefore, if God says that, I believe God and I'm going to do it."

   Notice back in I Corinthians 5, just for a second here. In this individual without going through what his particular case was, Paul starts in, uh, well, I'll just pick it up in verse 9. I Corinthians chapter 5, I Corinthians 5:9, "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world."

   In other words, "I told you, don't associate with people who have these standards. But," he said, "I realize that you go out to work every day and you deal with people who have the, the wrong standards, and the only way you could not associate with anybody who has any wrong standards is to completely leave the world." He said, "I know you can't do that right now."

   "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat." In other words, he said, you don't even sit down and have a meal, just a casual meal with someone who has been called a brother but has had to be separated from the Church of God.

   Now that is not a matter of rejecting or hating the person. That's what Satan wants people to think. "Oh what a cruel and harsh thing to do." But in fact, that's a way of showing love to that person. Because we want them to realize, here's what it's like to be apart from the Church of God. Do you want the rest of your life to be spent apart from God's people? The desire is to shake them up to realize what's going on.

   Now, sometimes we take the course of action of suspending an individual first. Say, "OK, you are suspended from services. You are not, you are not able to associate with God's people." Now, what does that mean? Essentially, we would follow that action. Let's say a person has a problem that they don't seem to realize and recognize, and yet we're hopeful that they're going to be able to see it if they're shaken up a little bit for a period of time. So we might say, "OK, you're suspended from services."

   Now, that means that locally we recognize they are not allowed to associate with the church people at all. It's the same as being disfellowshipped as far as locally is concerned, but it's handled entirely on a local level. Headquarters knows nothing about it. It's just entirely a local thing, but the purpose is to help the person realize what it's like to be apart from God's church, whereas when a person is disfellowshipped, then we have to let headquarters know when they're dropped from the membership rolls out there and they're cut off from all member literature.

   Marking them would be a third step, and that's if they're causing division or problem that we would stand up and announce it to you. The majority of people who are suspended or disfellowshipped, we never announce. And lest some of you are sitting there thinking I'm going to announce somebody today, no, I'm not. That's not the reason I'm covering this. Uh, but at the same time we need to recognize what we're doing.

   Now, if we are trying on one hand to help a person recognize, this is what happens when you choose to live a way contrary to God's way, and then the membership of the church goes out and continues to associate with this person just as if nothing has happened, then that person is not learning the lesson. The only thing they're missing are the sermons.

   And I think most of us at least should recognize that the sermon on the Sabbath, while it is important, is not the only thing that's involved in the Sabbath or in services. We come to services, a great deal of the reason that we're here is to be with one another. That's one reason I think Mr. Davey was bringing out the point about, you know, coming in at the last minute and running out just as soon as the services are over. All you've heard is the sermon and you've received no value from the fellowship with God's people. But you need that fellowship.

   Now, maybe you've had the experience, I know I have on occasion where I have not been able to attend services because of being sick. I can get a tape and listen to the tape maybe the same day. But it's not the same thing as being in services. Because I haven't been with God's people. There's a vast difference.

   So if we continue to associate with a person who's suspended or disfellowshipped, then they're not learning the lesson of what it means to be apart. So therefore God says avoid them. Don't have meals with them. Don't sit down with them. And obviously if you see them on the street you don't have to cross to the other side or spit at them as you walk by or anything like that. Certainly to say, you know, "Hi, how are you doing? Nice to see you," and go on your way is just fine. We don't hate them. But as a matter of love, we don't fellowship with them. And that should be our approach, but Satan tries to twist it around. "Oh, that's cruel. That's harsh." No, it's not. That's loving them. That's the best way to express love to them. And sometimes we must do it that way.

   Now there are many other ways that Satan tries to twist things. He broadcasts in moods, and attitudes, and thoughts that do all affect us. And if we allow ourselves to have those moods, especially moods come up because you know sometimes you just feel discouraged. "I just feel down, I don't know why." Well, you should know why. It's because Satan is broadcasting that negative, down feeling. If you allow yourself to have those moods and those attitudes, then you are literally placing yourself under the influence of Satan. And you're saying, "Well, OK, Satan's broadcasting this way, but uh, I don't really want to fight." So you're letting Satan have rule over your mind. Well, it's not possession, at least not yet. But you're allowing that influence to come in, so we don't want to have those kinds of thoughts and moods.

   Now we approached all of that last time talking about how Satan affects the spirit in man. Remember when we were in college, one of the classes, fourth year Bible class, it was kind of an interesting class to go through because at the time, at least it was comparative religion. And what that meant is that as you started in to take a particular doctrine — and I'll do this for you in a sermon sometime, but you take a particular doctrine. And the first thing you would do is examine it from "What does the Catholic Church teach you about this particular doctrine?" And you would find total chaos and confusion. I'll read you some of the things out of the Catholic Encyclopedia sometime, and you will not believe that anybody could even write such a stupid thing, much less believe it.

   Then we would go, after we finished what the Catholics thought about it, we would go and examine what the various Protestant denominations taught about it. And that wasn't a whole lot better. And then we would examine what the truth was, and when we came to examining the truth, it was so refreshing. It was like a light going on in the darkness. It was like a burden being lifted off of you. It just felt so good to read what the Bible says the truth really is. It was so much better.

   Now, I'm hopeful that the sermon today will be much along that same line. Because we have examined what Satan's influence is, today I want to examine what the influence of God's spirit is. To check into that and to show how God's spirit can affect the human mind. As, uh, Paul Harvey might put it, it's time for us to know the rest of the story. I've often thought, this is kind of a sidelight, won't it be fun in the, in the second resurrection when Paul Harvey comes up to walk up to him and say, "Well, Paul, now for the rest of the story." Explain the whole thing.

   Anyway, we need to know how God's spirit affects the spirit in man. I'm sorry it's so warm in here today, uh, there's not much we can do about it right now. So just bear with us as far as that's concerned and stay awake.

   What has history taught us about God's working with man and what God is trying to accomplish? We have seen earlier on that God wanted to recreate Himself, to expand His family. But in order to do that, those who become a part of that family must have exactly the same values that God Himself has. They must live by the same standards, or otherwise you will have chaos in that family. So that was vitally important. You must have the character of God.

   God created spirit beings, and He created them neutral. They then had to make a choice. One-third of them chose rebellion to God. We don't know all the reasons why. We don't need to know all the reasons why. But one third of them chose rebellion to God. So God had proven that a spirit being lacking the character of God cannot be relied upon to faithfully fulfill God's way.

   Now, as far as we know, two-thirds of the angels now do have the character of God. That character is set in them, and they're going to do what's right. But that other third is proven that just because you have a spirit being, if that spirit being doesn't have perfect holy righteous character, you cannot rely upon them to do what is proper.

   Then God created physical man and again created him neutral. And He placed the spirit in man within him. Because as we brought out, when you're physical, you can change. A spirit being, once the character is set, it's set for eternity, but with a physical being, they can still change as long as they're physical.

   So God creates a physical being who has that ability to change. He's given that spirit in man, and of course we know Adam and Eve failed. They failed the test. What did God show us by that test? There's a lesson to learn, the lesson being that you can take a human being, totally neutral, not inclined to go one way or another. Place them in a condition where everything is perfect. There was nothing wrong. Adam and Eve had not one complaint in the world. There was nothing that they could, they could gripe about. Here they each had the most perfect mate anyone could ever have. Adam never heard Eve say, "If I hadn't married you, I could have married someone else." Never happened. Eve never heard Adam say, "You're just like your mother." See, never heard it. They never either one had any of their past brought up. They didn't have any past. So there was nothing to be brought up. Everything was perfect. The husband had a stable job with a lot of future to it. See? I mean, what more could you ask? They had all the supplies they could want. They were well cared for. They had daily contact with God, and they failed.

   So God again shows that you can take a being, a physical being, and you can give them everything to set things up perfectly, put them in daily contact with God, and without the character of God, they will still fail. They cannot be relied upon to do what is right.

   We come further down in history and we find the nation Israel. Here is a whole nation that has been living in slavery. So they have learned what it's like to live in a world where people don't follow God. Then by tremendous miracles, God uses His power and He demonstrates who He is, what work He's doing. He shows the power and authority He has. There's no question in anybody's mind, this is God. He's just brought them out through the Red Sea. The nation of Egypt lies in shambles behind them, the army floating in the Dead Sea or the Red Sea. And He takes them into the wilderness. He puts them at the base of a mountain, and He thunders out His laws. And all of them said, "Yes sir. We'll do it. Anything you say, we'll do it." And how long were they faithful? Less than 40 days.

   Israel, the history of Israel is a demonstration that you can take a people. You can give them God's laws. You can tell them this is the way it is, this is what God says. You can send to them prophets and those who will teach them the right standards. And without the character of God, they will still fail. So God has continually taught the lesson that until you have the character of God, we cannot succeed.

   Finally, we come down to Jesus Christ, and He, of course, succeeded. Why did He succeed? Because He had godly character. Because He had the same perfect character that God Himself has. Why did He have that character? Because as the Bible shows us, He had the spirit of God from birth. He actually had it from conception, but He had it from the time of birth. The Spirit of God was there, guiding Him, directing Him, and building the character of God within Him.

   So He had godly character, and He proved that a physical being cast alone in the midst of a world where no one else was converted, no one else was living completely God's way, He could be placed in the middle of a world ruled by Satan, and if He had godly character, no matter what situation might present itself, He could be relied upon to be faithful to God's way. So He showed the key is having godly character. We must have that kind of godly character before we can be in His family.

   Now back in Romans 8, Paul begins to show us an important principle about us as humans. He shows us that as physical human beings, apart from the spirit of God, it is impossible using only the human spirit to live God's way faithfully.

   In Romans 8, let's pick it up in verse 3 (Romans 8:3). He says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh" — now we can go to other scriptures, Hebrews 8, and so on that show us that the problems that existed were from the side of the people. It wasn't a problem with the law, and that's what Paul is saying here. The law alone, just giving the law to people, couldn't produce perfection, because of the flesh, because the people themselves were weak and didn't have godly character and were influenced by Satan and would consistently go the wrong way.

   "What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law" — there is righteousness in God's law. It was always there, and the failing was in the flesh — "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

   There is a change which has taken place. We no longer walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh." That's what's on their mind.

   Now again, we have to stop and ask ourselves what's on my mind? What do I think about? What is it that I'm concerned about? I know my wife and I were talking just yesterday on the way back that when you're tired, it seems a lot of times like your mind isn't really on much of anything. It's just kind of in neutral, just coasting along. But what is it that you do think about? What is it that's important?

   When the time comes, let's say, uh, well, for example, today, announced the YOU review is coming up next Saturday evening. What came to your mind? Did it come to your mind immediately? "Well, I can't be there because" — and then some physical thing came to mind. "Well, I couldn't attend the Bible Bowl next Sabbath morning at 10:30 because services are at 2:30 and I'd have to get lunch in between and you know it's kind of tough." "Why, but it's tough. I can't be there because I need my lunch." Or did the thought come to mind, "Oh, I'd really like to be there. I wonder if I can work it out." See, there's a difference in the approach. "Oh, I couldn't go to the YOU review. That's all the way up north. That's all the way across town. I mean a whole town, on the other side up there, I, I'd have to go, I'd probably take me half an hour to get there. That's a long way to go."

   Did you start thinking of physical reasons why you can't do it? Because it says they that are after the flesh are concerned about the things of the flesh. But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

   When you're told we talk about Bible study — of course we don't even announce Bible study anymore because we have it every week. And of course, by the way, I should mention this in passing, we won't be having the slides this week but the following Bible study, the slides of Israel showing you those. But this week we need to finish up Genesis.

   But anyway, when that is announced about Bible study, what do you think? Do you think of reasons, physical reasons why you can't? Or do you begin to think immediately, "I really need that. I spiritually, I need that. I need to be there. I need to be with God's people. I need to be instructed. I need that." Now physical problems come up which block me, OK, but you know, I'll have to try to work around those, and I may not be able to be there every time, but I need it. The thought immediately is the spiritual need. Instead of, "Well, I don't know, if I go to Bible study, I don't have time to eat my dinner."

   There is a wonderful invention that takes care of that. It is called a sandwich. And I have found that you can drive with one hand and eat with the other, and it works. You know, I mean, be careful what kind of sandwich you get or, you know, it's, it's messy, but these, these wonderful things can work out.

   I also found another wonderful thing a few years ago too. I found that I could let my wife drive the car and my level of testosterone did not drop. It took nothing from my masculinity to allow my wife to drive occasionally. And I found that that does help out. Then I can eat while she drives if that's necessary or whatever it may be. There are a lot of different ways we can work it out, but what's our thought? Am I concerned? "Because after all, I get home late enough, I may not have time to eat if I go to Bible study." Or is my thought instead "I really need it"? And if there's any way I can work it out, I'm gonna be there.

   "For to be carnally minded," which simply means to be minded or concerned about the flesh, "is death." It will produce death. "But to be spiritually minded" produces "life and peace: Because the carnal mind," the physical, normal human mind, having the spirit in man, "is enmity against God: for," or because "it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." It is beyond the ability of the human mind to be subject to the law of God. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

   "But you’re not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

   So we're told that what we must have is the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Now dwelling is a constant ongoing process. It's not a one-time thing. It's something that is continually there. God's spirit is living within us. Not it was there at one time and it's gone now. So we're shown that we must have God's spirit, and without it we cannot please God.

   So how do we go about gaining that kind of godly character? As we mentioned, we are physical and therefore have the ability to change. God called us out and began to show us the way that we were living and showed us the failings of that way and then began to grant to us, as He says in I Timothy, He began to grant to us repentance. I think Romans 2:4 also tells you about how God is the one who grants repentance, or the goodness of God leads to repentance. So we are given the opportunity to see and repent.

   Now, notice back in James chapter one. God again shows us what it is we're repenting of. James chapter 1. We'll pick it up in verse 12. James 1:12. He says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation." Better put trial. It's not really temptation in the sense that we normally think of it. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation" or trial, "for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

   "Let no man say when he’s tested", "I am tested of God," where this problem or this trial comes upon me because God's just kind of checking me out. "For God cannot be," in this case perhaps tempted is a little better, uh, "for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempting he any man." God doesn't tempt someone to do something that's wrong.

   "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." Now, the phrase drawn away there is interesting. It's, it's a fishing expression. Uh, it literally means when he is taken in tow, like going out and grabbing hold of a boat and taking it in tow, and it has to go wherever you go. And it says that every man is tempted when he is taken in tow of his own lust. When the thoughts begin to come up in his mind, that's where lust occurs, and he is taken in tow and enticed to do something that is wrong.

   "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren."

   So in other words, he gives a warning and he says, don't, don't make a mistake about this. The problem of sin starts in the mind. That's where it occurs. It is not something that takes place just as a physical action. So he's warning the people saying don't get into an attitude of thinking that as long as I don't commit the physical sin, I'm OK. "I haven't done anything that wrong, and, and I can allow wrong thoughts to come into my mind. I can dwell on wrong thoughts. I can kind of toy around with them. I can handle that as long as I don't go ahead and commit the physical sin." And he says, you're making a big mistake when you do that. Because the sin occurs in the mind and it only produces this physical action eventually down the road, which causes death.

   Now, you might just tie in as well Proverbs 23. In verse 7. There's just one brief concept from that that I want to tie in. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." It tells us that as we think in the heart, that's the way we are. We can kid ourselves and think that what's in our heart doesn't really matter that much.

   You know, in most religions, and Roman Catholicism is a good example of it, in most religions, they will, they have the approach that as long as you're going through the motions, you're OK. It doesn't really matter that much what's inside of your mind. As long as you go through the motions, you go to mass or whatever it may be, then you're all right.

   And I think I mentioned before, I always used to tell my Catholic friends, I really enjoyed them because they were the one group of people that never let their religion get in the way of a good time. They, they had a lot of fun. Now they go through a lot of ritual. They're not any different. I still remember a boss that I had one time that was Catholic. And he just cursed the air blue. Then he turned around and said, "Excuse me, I go to confession every week. I'll get it taken care of." What's the attitude? "Oh, that's all right. I, I get it all wiped away. It's all right. I go through my, you know, three and thirty-three Our Fathers, three Hail Mary’s, we go through the thing and you've done your penance and you're all right."

   But God says, as you think in your heart, that's what you are. That's what God is concerned about more than anything else.

   So God's spirit begins to work on the human mind. When we repent and turn from that wrong way of thinking — that's what we're repenting of, the way of thinking that has been wrong — then God's spirit can begin to work with us.

   How does it change us? The most important way God's spirit changes us is found in Isaiah 55. Or at least is implied in Isaiah 55, where God describes the difference between us as physical human beings and Him. He says here in Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Eternal. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

   So God here contrasts the most important difference between us as humans and God. It's not the difference between our being physical and Him being a spirit being. The biggest difference is in the way we think. God says, "You don't think like I think, but if you're going to be God, you've got to begin to think like I think."

   So what God's spirit does for us is begin to change the way we think. It changes the human mind from what it has been to what God intends it to be. Again, we've read before and I'll just remind you of Philippians 2:5, which says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That is the mind that we are striving to have.

   Now, God's spirit, working on the way we think, begins to influence us in a variety of ways mentally. Let's go back to I Corinthians chapter one. I want to read an extensive section here. Because in this place Paul explains probably more clearly than anywhere else how God's spirit affects the human mind and what our attitude should be as a result of that.

   He says in I Corinthians chapter 1, let's pick it up. He's been talking about division within the church and problems that existed in that way. Let's pick it up in verse 17 (I Corinthians 1:17). He says, "For Christ sent me not to baptize." He's talking about how he didn't know who he had baptized in that particular congregation. He didn't really remember and that certainly is a common thing. "I don't remember baptizing that many there. Maybe I did a few, but I don't really remember."

   But he said Christ didn't send me to that area to baptize. There are other ministers who could baptize. He was an apostle, had a different function, "but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross" or stake "of Christ should be made of none effect."

   So he said, "God didn't call me to come in and impress you with great reasonings, with the wisdom of words." That's the kind of wisdom that man has. He loves to sound very intelligent. Many of you have had some exposure to college educations in this world, and you realize that many of those professors love nothing better than to sound intelligent. And so to have everyone think of them as if they're just so incredibly intelligent. Just stand in awe of these people, not all of them, but many of them are that way.

   Paul said, "I didn't come along that way." You listen sometime or well you probably won't ever have the opportunity, and I don't know if it's an opportunity or punishment, you'll probably never have the opportunity to listen to a theologian. I mean a real dyed-in-the-wool theologian. And hear what they have to say. You listen to them and when they're all done, they're worse than politicians. You don't know what they've said. In many cases, they haven't really said anything. But they love to use great lofty words.

   And I know sometimes I'll go through some of the theology reference books that I have at home and I'll read through these things and all of a sudden I'll come across a word and "What in the world does that mean?" And you can't even find it in a dictionary. A normal dictionary doesn't even have those words in it. But they use them not to make the meaning clear, but only to make themselves look intelligent.

   Oh, they love to look intelligent. They love to have people just stand in awe of that. I know in one book I have, every once in a while he'll go along and he'll give you something in Hebrew. I don't read Hebrew. I recognize Hebrew most of the time. That's about it. And I don't read it. I have some books where I can kind of look up some things, but, you know, that's about the limit of my abilities as far as that's concerned. And he'll have something written out in Hebrew, and he'll say, "Or as it was put much more clearly by someone else," and then he'll give you a quote in the Latin. And he doesn't translate. He just puts it out in the Latin like, "Oh, OK. Thanks. That really explains it a lot."

   And just Latin, he'll use a variety of languages. I have one book that has 13 different languages in it. To read the book, you have to speak 13 different languages. Coptic, Ethiopian, and all of these strange things, none of us could possibly draw the material out of there. But he wants to look intelligent. Well, he looks intelligent. He doesn't look converted.

   And Paul said, "When I came on the scene, I didn't come with the wisdom of words." Could he? You bet he could. He was educated by one of the greatest scholars of his day. He was an incredibly intelligent man.

   Now I, I've, I've used the example too, I think, at least in private. We have an individual in God's church, an evangelist who is very intelligent, Dr. Herman Hoeh. And Dr. Hoeh has a fascinating style. I really enjoy listening to him when he gives a lecture, at least most of the time. We were in college in third year Bible class, we're going through a segment on archaeology. Dr. Hoeh walked in, he said, "Good afternoon," and that's the last thing any of us understood. He was so far over our heads we didn't know what he was talking about. And many others, and I think there was a reason for that. I think he was showing us a little bit through that. We certainly learned at least one lesson.

   But at the same time I have heard Dr. Hoeh so many times he packs a tremendous amount into every statement he makes, and he can reach the level of what he reaches to his audience and he raises their level a little bit, but he never tries to impress the audience by showing how intelligent he is.

   I heard a tape one time where Dr. Hoeh was invited to come to the, I think it was the 20th anniversary of the Charleston, West Virginia Church. Dr. Hoeh came in and impromptu, gave a sermon on the importance of West Virginia in God's plan. Imagine that. And it was fascinating, but, and everybody was just fascinated by listening to what he had to say. And of course, Salem, if you remember from uh the uh the movie that we had at Feast time and the picnic Behind the Work film, Salem, West Virginia did have an important part of the sixth era or fifth era of God's Church.

   But at the same time, Dr. Hoeh doesn't try to come across by showing everybody how intelligent he is. He had a student walk up to him one time and said, "Dr. Hoeh, when I'm around you, I just feel, uh, I just feel so stupid and incompetent." Dr. Hoeh looked at him and said, "You should." And uh that's uh again, that wasn't, that wasn't Dr. Hoeh's vanity at all. It had nothing to do with that. Dr. Hoeh was trying to help that person understand something.

   And Paul came on the scene as a very intelligent, educated man, but he said, "God didn't send me. Christ didn't send me to this area to impress you with great words of wisdom."

   "For the preaching of the cross" or of the stake, in other words, the preaching of Christ's sacrifice to take away sin and the fact that we then can change and be born into the family of God because of that sacrifice to take away the death penalty, all of that, "for the preaching of the cross or the stake is to them that perish" or are perishing "foolishness; but unto us which are being saved, it is the power of God."

   In other words, we hear the message. To those that are going the wrong way, it makes no sense at all to say that someone could die for someone else, for everybody else, and take away a penalty. "Now that doesn't make sense to me. I don't see why that's necessary."

   So we have theologians who believe that Jesus Christ was a nice historical, uh, Jew who was no different than any other Jew except that he tried to live a good life. He's a nice person. And that's it. Theologians I'm talking about, those who claim to be Christian theologians believe that. They believe the Bible is nothing but a collection of Hebrew myths. It's not really true. God didn't bring them through the Red Sea. He kind of brought them through a little marshy area. They walked through the swamp and they said, "God brought us through." The plagues in Egypt, they didn't occur. Sun moving backward in the sky 10 degrees never happened. Changing water to wine, well, it's a nice little story. They don't believe it. They don't believe any of those things, and they're theologians.

   And He says to those of us who are being saved, the preaching of that is an incredible testimony to the power of God. When we begin to understand that, we stand in awe of how great God truly is.

   "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Those who think they're so intelligent, the William Buckleys of today, who think they are so incredibly intelligent. And God's going to show them to be absolute fools when it comes to understanding things truly.

   "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?" The scribe was a lawyer, a lawyer of religious law primarily, but a lawyer. "Where is the disputer of this world?" which sounds like a politician. "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?"

   "For after that in the wisdom of God" — now this is a complex scripture here, but I think we can make it a little bit clearer — "For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God" — well, let's take that first phrase. It's saying that in the wisdom of God, in other words, God in His wisdom, devised the plan. And He determined in that plan, as it says there, that the world by wisdom knew not God, that it is impossible by human wisdom, human reasoning to come to really know God. That the knowledge of God and what God is like is not based on human intellect or the human mind.

   So that was part of God's wisdom. He didn't want it to be confined to those who had great intelligence. Instead God didn't, didn't want it that way. So he says, "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."

   So God chose a way which in the eyes of this world is foolish. And most people are not really impressed with religion. Most people don't get that much out of religion. They go through the motions. They don't want a minister to stand up and teach them. I'm not talking about God's church, of course, but on the outside, you find people who really want a minister to come along to teach them. Most don't. They want one who agrees with them, and when they get one who starts teaching them something that steps on their toes, the board of deacons votes him out. They tell him, "Well, we think you'd be happier somewhere else." Get rid of them. "I don't want them."

   But God chose that way, which is in the eyes of the world foolishness, to proclaim salvation. Again, perhaps the reason for that is because if you can go and dig out in a library all the truths of God by your research and your effort, you can come up with it. Then everybody can look at you and say, "Wow, he really did a lot of work. That's really something."

   But if you have to say "I learned all this truth by reading the magazine comes out once a month. It's available to anybody. And a Correspondence Course and looking in the Bible and being taught by a 91-year-old man who doesn't have a college education, who doesn't speak Hebrew and Greek. I learned these truths in that way." You can't go around and say "I'm really something great, aren't I?" I'd say "I'm not really much because with all my intelligence and my education and my digging, I didn't come up with this. It was given to me."

   "For the Jews, he says, require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." The words he said of the people of his day, and it's much the same today. You could say the religious people of today, they want some kind of a sign. "Well, do you speak in tongues? You know, do you, do you heal the sick? Can you handle snakes and drink strychnine and do those things? That's the kind of sign we want to see. Then we know you're really servant of God. How many drunks do you feed? How many missionaries do you have scattered all over the world?"

   You know, in the Southern Baptist Church, California is a missionary field. That's appropriate. "But you know how many missionaries you got? What are you doing for the poor?"

   I still remember Mr. McCrady and I going into a visit here in Houston. Some lady had just finished off the last half bottle of gin, and half of a good size bottle of gin and her first question is, "What are you doing for the poor? 'Cause I'm poor and I don't know what you're gonna do for me." Of course, she called us "you boys," which was fine with me, but you know Mr. McCrady, boys, like someone said, "Mr. McCrady has always looked old." He hasn't changed.

   Uh, you know, you, you look at those things, and the attitude that people have, the, the religious people want some kind of a sign to show that you measure up to their standard. They don't measure you by the Bible, they want some signs instead of believing what God says.

   And the Greeks, well, what would be our analogy today? Those who aren't religious, what do they want? "Well, let's see you explain that to me in Greek. Let's go back to the original and see what it says here. And how does this relate to an ancient Arabic word and all of this kind of" — they want degrees, they want education. They seek all of those physical things that the human mind is capable of seeking. The Jews want something that the physical senses can perceive. A sign that I can see, taste, touch, smell, hear. Something for the physical mind.

   "But, he says, we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock" — the religious people a stumblingblock. They don't understand. "And unto the Greeks," to the educated, "foolishness." Is that not the way religion is viewed in education today? Foolishness.

   "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks," in other words, whatever background we may have come out of, whether we're religious or we're not, "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

   We begin to understand how great is this calling that we have and what God's really doing. It shows the incredible power and when you understand God's law and God's plan, you see what incredible wisdom. How could anyone ever think they could come up with a better plan than God's plan?

   I mean, what do the Protestants offer you? Well, no, let's go to the Catholics. What do they offer you? You can go to hell and burn for eternity. You can go to Purgatory and burn for nearly eternity. Or you can go to heaven and your ultimate reward is the beatific vision. You can sit and look at God for all eternity. And that's the best their god can come up with.

   And what do the Protestants offer? Well, essentially the same thing, although they usually eliminate purgatory. You can burn forever or you, roll around in heaven all day and do nothing forever, occasionally look down and hear the screams of those who are in hell. "Boy, I'm glad it's not me. There's my mother down there, boy, look at her scream." That's what they offer for you.

   And they look at what we teach as the truth of God, the plan which God really has. And they say, "Oh, that doesn't make any sense to me. That's foolish." We look at it and we say look at the incredible wisdom of God. You can't make a plan any better than God's. It's perfect. It has no flaw anywhere in it, and it gives an opportunity for everyone to clearly understand and clearly live God's way. What a perfect plan. But to those who don't, who are not called, it's foolishness.

   "Because, he says, the foolishness of God is wiser than men." Now he's kind of using an analogy here. God isn't foolish at all. But he said if God were foolish, God being foolish would be wiser than all of man put together. "And the weakness of God," and of course God isn't weak, but if God were weak, He'd "be stronger than" all mankind put together."

   "For ye see your calling, brethren, now not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. I think most of us can say amen to that. God hasn't called many wise and mighty and powerful and rich. A few here and there, but not many. Most of us fit very well in that category of being "the foolish things of the world to confound the wise."

   In other words, those that the wise would not look upon and say, "Those are people to be respected." Your neighbors look at you and say, "Wow, they're really intelligent. Really intellectual people." Well, probably not. "Those weird people next door don't put up any Christmas decorations." That's what you are. You're not intelligent in their eyes. You're not someone that they would go around and say, "Boy, I wish I were just like that. Aren't they really respected in the community?" Anytime there's a decision, the mayor call you up and say, "What should I do?" You're not that way. You're not respected by the world.

   "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."

   What kind of character do you have of yourself? What kind of character did you have when God called you? "You have tremendous character." Are you one of those people that maybe was addicted to the burning weed and you had a tough time giving up that? And you look at some of the people in this world and the character that they have, you watch this next summer, some of the Summer Olympics, and you imagine the character that had to go into beating their bodies to do the things that those young people will be doing. Do you have that kind of character carnally, physically? In most cases we simply stand in front of a mirror and say the answer is obvious. No, I, I don't have it, not like they do.

   But God didn't call us because we have character. He called us to give us character, His.

   "And he says, the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not," or which are nothing in the eyes of the world, "to bring to nothing the things that are." The things that we consider important don't mean anything to the world. We consider the Passover important. We'd do anything to be at the Passover service, no matter what we have to do. We're gonna work it out. We'll be there. We'll go to the Feast of Tabernacles and go to religious services eight days. That makes sense to people in the world? Not a bit. "You're going where? To go to church for eight days, twice a day, some days. You're calling that the highlight of the year. Kind of strange, aren't you?"

   But with us, we know that. The thought of going to the Feast of Tabernacles and not going to services would be, you think, "Well, I'm, I'm really missing out." I want to be, that's the highlight of the feast is going and being there in services and receiving the instruction.

   So the things which are despised in this world, God has chosen those methods and those individuals to show what's really important, so that as he says in verse 29, "That no flesh should glory in his presence."

   There won't be any one of us who can go before God and say, "You really got a good deal when you got me, God. Congratulations, you made the right choice this time. I don't know how you came up with the rest of these guys, but with me, you, you made the right choice."

   Most of us are more like I remember one fellow in college expressing it. That when God got to the bottom of the barrel and then scraped the bottom of the barrel, and he turned it over and kicked it, and he fell out. That's kind of the way we basically feel. We're not something impressive before God. We can't glory before God. We can't say "I'm really something" or "I had great character" or "I had all this understanding." We didn't have a bit of it.

   "But of him are you in Christ Jesus," or as another translation puts it, "He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: Christ is all of those things to us. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

   That's where the glory and the honor comes. When we begin to see what God is doing in us and in the others who are a part of the Church of God, we give honor and glory to God. "Isn't it fantastic what God is doing? Look at the changes taking place." Maybe we see it in others a little bit better. We see someone come into an area and we see them, you know, maybe the first Sabbath, and we see them begin to grow, develop.

   I know when I began attending services, I didn't know you weren't supposed to wear white socks with black suits. I didn't know that. Never had that instruction. When I finally got the instruction, I changed. I went out and bought a pair of black sweat socks. Wasn't exactly, you know, exact what God had in mind, but uh there was a process of learning and over a period of time you begin to pick up these things and you know, it's God that gives it, it's not us as individuals.

   I know I've made the comment and when I gave the icebreaker sermon, I mentioned to you, you know that I had fairly good grades, good student, and so on, all of those things. But you know what this tells you is that you can be the most wonderful student, the most well educated person. You have a fantastic mind, and you know what it means as far as the truth of God? Nothing. Because you don't understand the truth of God based on physical human wisdom.

   But instead, the truth of God, the understanding of God's way, of the way God thinks is available to every human being exactly the same way. You can be a lousy student. You don't have to have a great intellect at all, but if you have the spirit of God, you can have more understanding than those with the greatest intellects. Because God's understanding is given through His Spirit. A free gift that He gives to all of us.

   So Paul goes on, he says, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God." He wasn't the Billy Graham who speaks with nice sounding words. He wasn't any of the others that we could name.

   "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Now, when you understand that statement, it's a whole lot more meaningful than just some Protestant coming along and preaching Christ. Christ is not his last name, Christ is his office, and it shows the tremendous potential that we have and all of that is embodied in that.

   "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling." He said, "When I came on the scene, you saw me as a human being. Weakness, fear, trembling."

   "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

   "Howbeit we speak wisdom," you know, he says, "Now I am speaking wisdom, not the wisdom of men," but he says "we speak wisdom among them that are perfect" or are being perfected or in the process of growing. "We do speak wisdom among those who are being perfected, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that" again "are coming to nothing: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery."

   Again, as we've explained, the mystery is something which is hidden until it's revealed to you. "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

   All the great intelligent ones. Paul studied under Gamaliel. Did Gamaliel get it? No, he didn't. He didn't grasp it.

   "But, he says, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

   So he says you can't discern these things physically. Now we talked about that much earlier on. You can't discern them physically, you can't figure them out with the eye, the ear, the physical senses. But instead they must be revealed to you through God's spirit. And he says, God's spirit in you searches out deep things. So you begin to understand things much more deeply.

   Now hold your place there because I wanna come back and finish that chapter, but I want to just point you to a couple other scriptures quickly in Psalm 119. Psalm 119, I was reading this the other day and I think this is one of the Psalms we ought to all go back and read over and over again, so much in it for us. But just notice one verse here. Psalm 119:18.

   David is asking God a special blessing. And he says, "Open you my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." He said, "I can't look physically and see these things, but I want you to open my eyes spiritually so that I can read it and wondrous things begin to appear out of God's law. I begin to understand much more deeply, I understand some of the whys, why God is doing things the way He is, begin to know more of the mind of God."

   Back in Ephesians chapter one, again, I just want to pick up one verse. This whole segment deals with receiving God's spirit, the earnest of the Spirit, and so on. Breaking in the middle of the thought here in Ephesians 1:17. He says "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him."

   So he said, God gives His Spirit so you can have this wisdom. And that God reveals to you His truth. Now He doesn't, again, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not saying He reveals it to you separately from the rest of the church. You didn't have a dream last night where God revealed to you that we ought to be keeping Sunday instead of Sabbath. God doesn't reveal things in that way.

   But many times you will go back, and I'm sure all of us have had the experience of going back and reading a section in the Bible that you have read many times, and all of a sudden something leaps out at you. And you think "I never saw that before." That's God's spirit working to help you understand. God is helping you to see the things that you need to see. Not in your own intellect.

   He says "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" Even through that scripture. "Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God." What Dr. Hoeh understands is the truth of God, he doesn't understand because Dr. Hoeh is intelligent. He understands because God's revealed it. And the same is true for all of us.

   "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know" — it means literally to understand — "the things that are freely given to us of God."

   "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing" or communicating "spiritual things with spiritual" or one translation puts it, communicating spiritual things by means of spiritual principles.

   In other words, we can stand up and talk about certain things here in the church and people outside don't get it. That's one reason why we don't have open services where we just let people come in whenever they hear about the church because they can come in and they don't get it. They won't understand what we're saying. You understand why? Because I'm a great teacher? No. Because the spirit of God. That's the way understanding is given.

   "But the natural man" — again, it's not a condemnation, it's just a statement — "The natural man," the normal person, "doesn’t receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him." It's foolish. It's foolish to rely on God for healing. It's foolish not to eat unclean foods. "What a terrible way to go through life when your children don't have any Christmas presents, aren't they deprived? What a horrible thing to go through life and never eat a lobster."

   But it's not. We recognize it's not foolish. It's wonderful. "That's great. I don't ever have to eat the vermin of the sea" or wherever it may be. "Never have to eat those things. Never have to suffer the penalties."

   So, it's foolishness to the normal man. He says "they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them," it is impossible for him to grasp it, "because they are spiritually discerned."

   "But he that is spiritual judges all things," or discerns all things, better put, "yet he himself is judged of no man." In other words, no man is really able to understand. People can't understand why you do things the way you do. Your neighbors don't get it. They probably like you, at least I would hope they do, but they don't understand why you do the things you do. They can't. Beyond their ability. They don't discern you because they don't have God's spirit and they can't see what's going on.

   "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?" In other words, that's a, a quotation, "Who's known the mind of God that we can instruct him?" But Paul says, "But we have the mind of Christ."

   Because God's spirit is made available to us, we begin to have the mind of Christ. Now people sometimes have misunderstood that and they think, "Well, see, if I can understand the, the things in the Bible, if I can understand God's plan and the Sabbath and tithing and this kind of thing, then I must have God's spirit." That's not necessarily true. That isn't really what it's telling you there. It's not telling you that you can have head knowledge, technical knowledge as a result of God's spirit.

   Mr. Armstrong told us on the refresher program that many times physical people understand much of the Bible because much of the Bible is based on physical principle. So they can understand the physical things. There are some churches that teach tithing. There are some churches that teach the Sabbath. And various other laws that different ones will have here and there. But they don't get the whole thing.

   But what they don't have more than anything else is not just head knowledge. What they don't have is the knowledge of what God's mind is like, how God thinks, what godly character is. They don't have it. And that's what God's spirit provides to us, the knowledge of what God's mind and character is really like.

   Notice back in Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. I see we're already over time, but I'm going to finish today. All of you in the balcony, I don't want anybody falling from the third loft up there, OK, Galatians chapter 5.

   Pick it up here in verse 16 (Galatians 5:16). "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:" In other words, those two ways of living, being led by God's spirit or doing things the way that's right in our own eyes, those two ways "are contrary:" diametrically opposite to one another. "The flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: that you cannot do the things that you would."

   "But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law" or under the penalty which the law brings. The law says you break it, there's a death penalty. So if you're led by God's spirit, you don't have to be afraid of the death penalty that comes from God's law. God's spirit will lead you to live in such a way that you won't break that law and incur the death penalty, so you won't have to fear it.

   "Now the works of the flesh are manifest," they're openly seen, "which are these, now this is the way the normal person is; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness," which means lawlessness, living as if there were no law, you can do things that, uh, even though there might be laws against it, you think you can get away with it, "idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance," which means contention or strife or discord, "emulations, wrath, strife," which means self-seeking and selfishness, "seditions, heresies, Envying, murders, drunkenness, revelling, and such like:"

   This basic way of thinking, oh, it may not manifest itself as the physical action itself, but the way of thinking that produces these physical actions is still there. "Of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Because the things that they do reflect the way they think.

   "But, he says, the fruit of the Spirit" — now what's fruit? Fruit is what's produced by a particular plant. Now, you may not exactly see it being produced. You don't know exactly what's going on. You can't see everything going behind the scenes, but the fruit appears. And when you see the fruit, you know that everything else is going on.

   If you see, well, if I could use the apple tree as an example. You don't see the process of photosynthesis going on. You don't see the apple tree sucking up nutrients and and water and so on from the soil. You can't see that at all. But if it produces fruit, you know all those other things are going on.

   So what he's saying here is the fruit of the spirit, the spirit is going to produce certain things in us. We may not see God's spirit producing something in a person, in ourselves or someone else, but if the fruit is there, that tells us that God's spirit is doing that work.

   Now he says the fruit that which is produced by the Spirit of God "is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:"

   Now, each of those is worthy of a lot of study. But what are we being told there? We're being told this is what the spirit of God, the mind of God within you produces. In other words, this is the way God thinks. This is what's on God's mind. This is the way that God wants us to think.

   So the fruit of the spirit is not producing technical knowledge of Sabbaths, new moons, feast days, and all these other things. That isn't what it gives us. The fruit of the spirit produces a changed attitude. All of these are attitudes. It changes the attitude that's there. The way that we think becomes different.

   As we referred before, I won't turn back to it right now. In Romans 8:16. We read that God's spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. In other words, the spirit of God working with our human spirit produces these fruits. When these fruits are in a person, they show who our Father is. They show that God is working in us, not that we're great, but that God's spirit working in us produces these things and we become like God.

   Just as we use that physical analogy, if you look like your parents, then people know, "Well, OK, that one is the offspring of these." I mean, with the little children up here, probably several of you could stand and pick out and say, "Oh, I know who their parents are and who their parents are." Some of you were sitting there thinking, "I hope they can't tell who that one's parents are." But you can see characteristics and you know who the parents are by looking at the child.

   The same is true with us. God's spirit in us produces characteristics so you can tell who the father is. Who's the father of that individual? If they have these characteristics, they're the son of God. Because God is producing these characteristics in them.

   In Philippians 4, Philippians 4:6-9. I'll tell you what, just write down verse 6 through verse 9. I'll take the time for it right now. It shows us this is how God thinks and therefore this is the way I should think. This isn't just an idle suggestion that Paul gives. He's telling us how we ought to be thinking.

   Let's go back to Romans 8. A couple more sections that I want to read quickly out of that in conclusion. Romans 8 shows us that God's spirit gives us the power to build the character and mind of God.

   He says here in Romans 8:26. "Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities:" In other words, when you have weaknesses that you're having trouble overcoming, but you're really striving to overcome them, God's spirit is there to back you and to strengthen you and to help you to overcome and to build the right kind of character. It's there.

   Then he says, "for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

   When God's spirit is there, God knows what's in your heart and mind. You ever get on your knees before God and you try to express something to Him and you can't find the words? Don't worry about it. If God's spirit is there, that spirit communicates. Not in words, but God can see what's in your heart and mind. So it means God's spirit makes intercession there with sounds that, you know, words or phrases or concepts that we can't even put together. God's spirit gives that communication so that God is able to help us and to strengthen us.

   Now let's go back in the same chapter to verse 9. He says "we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell" — lives — "in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

   "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." You have the promise of life because God's spirit is there. It imparts life to you.

   "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

   "Therefore, brethren," with that in mind, understanding that God's spirit was going to give you life, the character and mind of God. See, it gives you life. God's willing to give you eternal life because you've built the mind and character of God. So he says, "therefore," when you understand that "we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify" or put to death "the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

   "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," those who are led by it. "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit" of better put sonship, "whereby we cry, Abba, Father." It's a very special term we can use, a term of closeness to God.

   "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

   "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," God's glory revealed in us, "For the earnest expectation of the creature" — as it should be, — "waits for the manifestation," the revealing "of the sons of God."

   Sons of God aren't seen right now. People don't even recognize them. I'm not talking about us, of course, I hope we do recognize one another. But in the world, they don't recognize you as being sons of God. They can't comprehend that. Your friends and your relatives, as Mr. Davey was talking about, and we think how much we'd like to help them understand the truth, but they don't see you as a begotten child of God. They don't know you're going to become God.

   You can't walk up to them and say, "Well, don't worry, in a few years I'm going to be God. I'll help you out then." They don't understand that. I mean when we say, you know, someone says, well, you may remember the example back in Genesis we talked about in Bible study the other day where uh, Jacob's wife came to him and said, "Give me children, or else I die," and he said, "Am I God?" We can use the same phrase sometimes. Somebody wants something, say, "Well, I'm not God, but with us, we always have to say yet." Going to be. Not yet, but they don't understand that.

   The whole of creation is groaning in pain, waiting, longing for the time when the sons of God become manifest, become shown, openly seen. That's going to really bring salvation and help to this world.

   We have been emphasizing this spirit in man. That God's spirit is the power that coupled with the spirit in man makes our awesome potential a very real possibility. We have to understand that point. We have to grasp that information and understand it. We have to understand how the spirit in man can be influenced by an outside spirit, or we can't resist Satan. We can't even recognize it or resist it, and what's more, we don't use God's spirit to change it. We must recognize that.

   We must recognize how God's willing to change us from being carnal and thinking like physical humans to being spiritual and thinking with the same mind that God Himself has. That's vital knowledge that the world doesn't have today.

   You should go back, and I emphasize this very strongly. You should go back to Mr. Armstrong's book on the Incredible Human Potential and read it again. And it ought to be a reference book that you go back to time and time again because every time you go back, you're going to find things in there that you didn't see before. It'll come that much clearer to you.

   One final scripture in Romans chapter 11. And it relates to this plan of God. But I think it certainly ties in very well with what we've been talking about in this series on the spirit of man.

   He says here, talking about how God has worked out His whole plan so that everyone will eventually have that opportunity. He says in verse 33 (Romans 11:33), "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"

   "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?"

   "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever and ever."